Some words on announcing...

I've watched my fair share of Laker basketball over the years, and a majority of the games featured Joel Meyers (and recently Bill Macdonald) and Stu Lantz. Anyone who watches FS West or KCAL should feel privileged to listen to Meyers, Macdonald, and Lantz. This post shall be about some of my favorite qualities of our announcers and the generally poor quality of other teams' calling. This is my first ever Fanpost, so here goes nothing.

First, some notes about our broadcasters:

- Stu does a TERRIFIC job of analyzing the way players play. He analyzes the X's and O's about the game, proper positioning, and general fundamentals that would be helpful to players of ANY skill level. I know that I have taken advice from Stu over the years listening to his commentary. Listen to him during the games. The man has been around basketball for a long time, even spending most of his career with the Lakers, and has a clue on how to play the game.

- Bill Macdonald really gets people excited this year about great plays. He's no Kevin Harlan, but you can tell he's excited about the Lakers (and even the other team sometimes).

- I actually preferred Joel Meyers. His play-by-play broadcasting was more direct and terse. Plus, I like the fact that he openly criticizes the Lakeshow for a failed defensive assignment or a dumb mistake by a player.

- The way Lantz analyzes, he could be great for national TV. I think basketball fans would appreciate his insight rather than Jeff Van Gundy rambling about changing the commissioner's rules.

- In general, the Lakers broadcasting team throughout the years wasn't afraid to put blame on LA; similarly, they are able to give a significant amount of credit to the opponent if deserving. A good play is a good play, regardless if it's by the Lakers or their opponent. That' the way announcing should be done.

But now onto the bad side of calling...

Watching last night's overtime Jazz game was painful. Not only due to the sloppy play, but also the announcing of Matt Harpring and Craig Bolerjack. Now, it is fairly clear that the Lakers are disliked by most sports fans (see the picture taken from last night's broadcast):

But I feel that when announcers openly admit their disdain for Los Angeles basketball, it crosses the fine line between professionalism and disrespect. Now I reside in the Bay Area, so I deal with CSN Bay Area's broadcast team of Bob Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Jim Barnett (color). Generally, Fitzgerald does a good job. However, like many other local broadcasters, he tends to give the Warriors far too much credit throughout the game. Not as bad as Harpring with the Jazz though--he was making excuses for Utah all night. At one point he even claimed that the ball was out of bounds on Pau (after replay clearly showed Paul Millsap touching it last) simply because "he's a 7-footer". The Jazz announcers complained about a non-call for Fisher's defense on a fast break miss for a good minute after the play was over, as well. Immediately after the Jazz missed their layup, Bolerjack immediately cried that their "should have been a foul there."

Check out these highlights, and listen to the Laker's announcers:

At 2:15, note Macdonald's and Stu's praise for Bynum's pass on the break. Amazing stuff for a 7-footer battling a bad knee. Now during the game, listening to Bolerjack and Harpring, on the same play absolutely nothing was said. A mundane, painful "and Barnes scores," was uttered. Where is the credit where it's due? In the fourth quarter on a MWP crucial missed 3, Harpring even said "Keep on shooting, Metta World Peace... He's struggling!" Come on, you're an announcer first, and a vengeful fan a distant second.

I could go on, but I think you guys know what I'm talking about.

There it is, my thoughts on announcing. Please share your thoughts about broadcasting throughout the NBA!